May 2, 2024
Pathfinders to Mars (ABC, 1960 - 1961)
"You know, Henderson, the progress of true science depends not only on the cold, calculating types, but also on the adventurers and dreamers. There's a place for all of us under the sun."
"Yes... as long as we don't get too close to it."
#pathfinders to mars#abc#children's television#classic tv#1960#guy verney#malcolm hulke#eric paice#gerald flood#pamela barney#george coulouris#stewart guidotti#hester cameron#hugh evans#astor sklair#peter williams#bernard horsfall#maurice durant#lisa peake#ian sadler#the pathfinders serials seem to have been in production nearly back to back‚ with very little gap between transmission#but that didn't mean there weren't further shakeups between Space and Mars; the two younger children were written out (the hamster remains#don't worry)‚ replaced by the niece of Flood's character tagging along; Peter Williams patronly father figure also disappears after a brief#appearance in the first ep‚ leaving Flood's genial sciencey everyman to take the lead focus. the most notable introduction is surely#the legendary George Coulouris (a former member of Welles' Mercury Theatre) as a slightly loony alien life truther who bluffs his way onto#the voyage; bf was present for me watching this with my dad and he DETESTED this new character‚ a perpetually suspicious and treacherous#hindrance to every one else whose stupid schemes and mischief routinely put eveyone in mortal danger. i get it... but then he's kind of fun#too‚ for all his ridiculousness... ymmv of course. the Coulouris character is perhaps the closest parallel we can see with Doctor Who‚#bearing more than a little similarity to the original Hartnell characterisation (by which i mean the very very original‚ in the first few#serials; purposefully mysterious‚ even antagonistic‚ often at odds with his fellow travellers but with a bond with a young girl among them)
